|
Live: $25,000 WPT World Championship
Upcoming: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller
| Earnings | $242,819 |
| Cashes | 2 |
| Final Tables | 1 |
| Titles | 0 |
| Tournaments Played | 6 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
31,260,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 3
3,343,000
Day 4
5,125,000
Day 5
4th
Level 37: 150,000-300,000, 50,000 ante
Brandon Novena moves all in under the gun for 2,575,000, and Dwyte Pilgrim asks for a count from the button before he calls with K
Q. Novena shows 66
, and it's a race situation.
The board comes K
10102Q, and Pilgrim wins the pot with two pair (kings and queens) to eliminate Brandon Novena in fourth place. Pilgrim respectfully shakes hands with Novena, who then shakes hands with the other players. As Novena walks off the stage, Pilgrim briefly pumps his fist in the air.
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 16,050,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 2,600,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - Out in 4th Place ($233,475)
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 12,725,000
Level 37: 150,000-300,000, 50,000 ante
During Hand #82 , while Pilgrim is cutting out chips for his initial raise, he stacks them right in Brandon Novena's, almost hitting Novena's hand with his own.
As the pot develops, Novena steps away from the table for the first time this afternoon to seek advice from one of his railbirds who is all too familiar with the WPT, Shawn Cunix.
Level 36: 125,000-250,000, 25,000 ante
Brandon Novena raises under the gun to 550,000, and Dwyte Pilgrim calls from the button. The flop comes K76, Novena bets 1,100,000, and Pilgrim moves all in.
It was a verbal all in, but after about 30 seconds, Pilgrim starts sliding his chips forward, and then dramatically flips the stacks so they spill out in front of him, covering the table.
Soon after that, Novena folds, and Dwyte Pilgrim takes the pot -- and the chip lead. Pilgrim turns toward Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten and says, "That hurt. I even felt for the kid."
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 12,550,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 2,375,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 2,125,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 14,325000
Level 36: 125,000-250,000, 25,000 ante
Brandon Novena raises under the gun to 625,000, Dwyte Pilgrim quickly reraises from the button to 1,800,000, and Novena thinks for about 30 seconds before he calls.
The flop comes Q73
, Novena checks, Pilgrim bets 1,000,000, and Novena thinks for nearly a minute before he folds. Dwyte Pilgrim takes the pot.
After the hand, Pilgrim says, "You're gonna built a three-million-dollar pot with nothing? I don't know much, but I'm not gonna build a three-million-dollar pot with nothing." (The pot is actually worth a little more than 4 million.)
Pilgrim then pushes his cards toward Novena, and lets him turn over one. Novena chooses a card and flips it over -- the K.
Pot Size: 4,075,000
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 13,025,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 2,375,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 3,300,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 12,675,000
Level 36: 125,000-250,000, 25,000 ante
Brandon Novena completes the small blind to 250,000, and Dwyte Pilgrim checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes K85, Novena bets 400,000, and Pilgrim calls. The turn card is the 4, Novena bets 600,000, Pilgrim min-raises to 1,200,000, and Novena calls.
The river card is the 6, Novena checks, Pilgrim bets 325,000, and Novena calls with A-K for top pair, top kicker. But Pilgrim shows K4 to win the pot with two pair, kings and fours.
Pot Size: 4,450,000
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 13,450,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 2,200,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 5,150,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 10,575,000
Level 36: 125,000-250,000, 25,000 ante
As the cards are being dealt, Dwyte Pilgrim says, "I'm gonna do the wrong thing at the right time."
Dwyte Pilgrim limps under the gun to 250,000, and Brandon Novena checks his option in the big blind. Both players check to the turn on a board of J759, Novena checks, Pilgrim bets 375,000, and Novena calls.
The river card is the Q, Novena checks, Pilgrim bets 525,000, and Novena calls with 95 for two pair, nines and fives. But Pilgrim shows 77 to win the pot with a set of sevens.
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 11,900,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 3,725,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 6,425,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 9,300,000
Level 35: 100,000-200,000, 25,000 ante
Dwyte Pilgrim raises under the gun to 450,000, Ofir Mor calls from the small blind, and Brandon Novena calls from the big blind. All three players check to the turn on a board of Q875, Mor bets 675,000, and Novena quickly moves all in for 3,825,000. Pilgrim quickly folds, and Mor thinks for about 10 seconds before he folds as well. Brandon Novena takes the pot.
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 11,100,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 2,825,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 5,975,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 8,525,000
Seat 6. Daniel Makowsky - 2,950,000
Level 34: 75,000-150,000, 25,000 ante
Dwyte Pilgrim raises under the gun to 300,000, Kia Mohajeri calls from the cutoff, and Brandon Novena reraises from the big blind to 750,000. Pilgrim quickly calls, and Mohajeri folds.
The flop comes 1042, and Novena moves all in for 3,275,000. Pilgrim pauses for about 10-15 seconds before he folds, and Brandon Novena takes the pot.
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 7,100,000
Seat 2. Ben Klier - 3,925,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 5,175,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 5,300,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 8,075,000
Seat 6. Daniel Makowsky - 1,800,000
Level 34: 75,000-150,000, 25,000 ante
Ben Klier raises from the button to 325,000, and Brandon Novena calls from the big blind. The flop comes J42, Novena checks, Klier bets 400,000, and Novena calls. The turn card is the Q, Novena bets 600,000, and Klier raises to 1.8 million.
Novena thinks for more than 30 seconds before he folds, and Ben Klier takes the pot as his friends cheer from the stands.
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 3,825,000
Seat 2. Ben Klier - 7,650,000
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 5,550,000
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 3,875,000
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 8,300,000
Seat 6. Daniel Makowsky - 2,175,000
Level 34: 75,000-150,000, 25,000 ante
By BJ Nemeth
Day 4 came to an end shortly before 1:00 am ET when two players were eliminated on back-to-back hands in order to reach the final six players from the 1,042-player field. Here are the official chip counts, along with the number of big blinds in each stack. (When action resumes, the blinds will be 75,000-150,000 with a 25,000 ante.)
Seat 1. Kia Mohajeri - 4,225,000 (28 bb)
Seat 2. Ben Klier - 6,125,000 (40 bb)
Seat 3. Ofir Mor - 7,300,000 (48 bb)
Seat 4. Brandon Novena - 5,125,000 (34 bb)
Seat 5. Dwyte Pilgrim - 4,800,000 (32 bb)
Seat 6. Daniel Makowsky - 3,300,000 (22 bb)
And the prizepool they'll be playing for:
1st: $733,802
2nd: $440,945
3rd: $266,835
4th: $233,475
5th: $183,449
6th: $148,427
Here's a photographic look back at Day 4 of the WPT Borgata Poker Open:
Royal Flush Girls Katrina, Michelle, and Melanie sang "Happy Birthday" to Mike Sexton before giving him a card on his birthday. It was an important day for Sexton, who was trying to reach his first televised WPT final table after eight-plus years behind the commentator's desk.
The biggest hand in the early part of the day was between defending champion Olivier Busquet (right) and John D'Agostino, who has made two WPT Borgata final tables himself. D'Agostino had check-raised all in with the board showing K927, and Busquet tanks for several minutes, even apologizing to the table and saying, "This is not a Hollywood."
Olivier Busquet eventually folded AK on a board of K927 (top pair, top kicker). A few players asked D'Agostino to show one card, but he smiles and says he can't. Busquet asked D'Agostino, "Why are you so good?"
Defending champion Olivier Busquet was eliminated a short while after John D'Agostino took down that big pot against him. No player has ever successfully defended a WPT title, but Busquet came close, finishing 25th in a field of 1,042 players.
Brandon Novena's chipleading stack (left) towers over the other stacks at his table, including short-stacked Mike Sexton (right).
Mike Sexton (right) was eliminated by John D'Agostino in 20th place. Sexton was all in preflop from the big blind with A5 against D'Agostino's J10, and the board came Q83J6 to give D'Agostino a pair of jacks.
Mike Sexton received a phone call from his WPT co-host Vince Van Patten during his post-game interview. Van Patten was hoping that he'd have to work this episode alone, but congratulated Sexton on his deep finish. They'll both have to watch this final table from their usual spot at the commentator's desk.
Dwyte Pilgrim (left) plays a hand against Dan Makowsky (center) while John D'Agostino looks on.
Sean Nolan (standing, right) picks up two pair on the turn after John D'Agostino (left) outflopped him. Nolan was all in with A4 against D'Agostino's Q10, and doubled up on a board of Q54A9.
John D'Agostino was eliminated in 14th place by chipleader Brandon Novena. D'Agostino got down to 14 big blinds before he moved all in with J9, and ran into Novena's AK. The board never gave D'Agostino much hope as it came A73102.
After a flop of 864, Michael Simhai moved all in with 86 (two pair) against Lee Childs' pocket nines. But Lee Childs spiked a nine on the turn to clinch the pot with a set. Simhai was eliminated in 17th place.
After some interesting chatter from Dwyte Pilgrim, Sean Nolan five-bet all in with AK, and Pilgrim snap-called with AA. The aces held up, and Pilgrim doubled up to catapult himself near the top of the leaderboard. After the hand, Pilgrim said, "When you're ready to flip for three million, son, ya made a mistake."
To read the original write-up and see what was said between Pilgrim and Nolan, click here.
Ofir Mor (right) doubles up through Andrew Youngblood (standing, left). Mor was all in preflop with AK against Youngblood's 77, and the board came AK6J8. Mor had his tournament life at stake in this race situation, but he went on to reach the televised WPT final table as the chipleader.
The final 14 players battle it out at two tables in an arena section of the Borgata Poker Room.
Fans and media crowd around the center table during a big all-in situation.
No, this man in the red shirt isn't a tourist in front of a greenscreened backdrop -- it's Vichien Siprajim, who finished in 12th place.
The final 10 players redrew for new seats at the center table to play down to the final six. Clockwise from the dealer: Kia Mohajeri, Lee Childs, Ben Klier, Ofir Mor, Brandon Novena, Dwyte Pilgrim, Daniel Makowsky, Andrew Youngblood, Christian Iacobellis, and Jeff Papola.
An overhead shot of the final 10 players.
Brandon Novena (left) and Dwyte Pilgrim at the final 10-handed table, both battling to reach the televised WPT final table.
It took 57 hands for the first player to bust from the final 10-handed table. The dealer watches over all 10 chip stacks during the break.
In Hand #57, Christian Iacobella (standing, far right) was eliminated in 10th place. Iacobellis moved all in with Q10, and ran into the AJ of Brandon Novena (standing, left). The board came K5288, and Novena won the pot with ace high.
Brandon Novena (left) folds to Daniel Makowsky. Makowsky had check-raised all in after a flop of J82.
In the final hand of the day (Hand #89), Jeff Papola (foreground, left) moved all in with A8 and was up against the 77 of Ofir Mor (standing, right). The board came KQ9K2, and the pocket sevens held up. Jeff Papola was eliminated in seventh place as Mor claimed the chip lead heading into the televised WPT final table.
Dwyte Pilgrim, who has been called the "Minor League Player of the Year" for his success in less prestigious events, explodes with emotion after reaching his first high-profile final table. Pilgrim repeatedly yelled, "We're gonna shock the world! We're gonna shock the world!"
Once the emotions of the moment settled down, the players had to go through the business of verifying their chip stacks and filling out their WPT bio sheets.
Dwyte Pilgrim and two of his friends are caught on video celebrating, and Pilgrim turns to the camera to say he's going to teach the world a new style of poker -- "Gracie Jujitsu." Pilgrim has yet to explain exactly what that means, so you'll have to follow the final table coverage to find out.
The final table is scheduled to begin today at 4:00 pm ET, when the final 6 players battle for a WPT title and $733,802. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for live hand-for-hand coverage, with every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, as well as updated chip counts for every hand.
